Sword Art Online - Phantom Bullet

Chapter 7

There was a feeling of a little tingling in her right index finger, causing Sinon to frown. Rubbing her finger with her thumb with the intent to soothe the irritation did not do anything to remove the feeling.

She knew why though.

It was Kirito's fault. That rude, arrogant and very dense beginner. She used all of the strength in her body to clench her right hand.

This was normally impossible, and she half understood it in her head. Sinon was now in FullDive in the virtual world with the AmuSphere; no matter how hard she clasped her hand, her real body blood flow congestion or nerve pressure in reality would not be affected. All the sensations that occur in this world were from the result of electrical impulses directly sent to the brain by the machine with virtual signals.

――――But.

Right now, Sinon's right hand could still feel the warmth and pressure of when the light saber user had held her hand strongly, although it had been close to two hours ago.

Giving up trying to erase the feeling, Sinon returned her right hand to the anti-material sniper rifle. On the lightly set spring of the trigger, she gently placed her index finger there. The grip of her beloved gun «Hecate II» that had gone through so many battles with her was like an extension of her body, but that little tingling in her finger persisted.

Sinon was now hiding in a clump of small bushes on the edge of a high cliff waiting for a chance to snipe.

The stage was the «Wilderness at the Crossroads». The topography was characterized by a staggeringly dry central plateau where two straight roads crossed. The opponent's name was «Stinger». BoB selection F Block, Fifth battle; it was the first semi-finals, and it had been twelve minutes since the start.

If she wins this match, regardless of the results for her next match, she will obtain the rights to enter the BoB main tournament battle royale scheduled for tomorrow, Sunday night. But, being able to win up to this point, the enemy Stinger must also be fairly strong.

Although he had a name like that, he was not actually equipped with a portable surface-to-air missile launcher «Stinger». His main weapon should be the «FN • SCAR» carbine rifle, which alone was enough of a threat. He was also equipped with an ACOG scope for improved accuracy. So, should they get close enough to get a visual of each other, Sinon might not be able to win.

Fortunately, in this map, there were four blocks separated by roads; you had to go through the central crossroads to reach the others. When two players first appear on this map, they are placed a minimum of 500 meters apart; thus, it was impossible for them to be placed in the same block.

In other words, if Stinger wanted to get within range of Sinon to snipe with SCAR, even knowing that he would need to pass through the central crossroads, he must charge through; on the other hand, Sinon must succeed in attacking him while he was in the crossroads.

With only this option, Stinger would try to extend the time before he would charge, as a tactic to exhaust Sinon's concentration. Although this was the case, Sinon could not deny the possibility of him making a move early, so she had no choice but to stretch the limits of her nerves in concentration and continue to stare through her sights like this.

Now, labelled from A to O with the pre-selected knockouts divided in 15 blocks, more than half of the deciding matches had finished, so only about 10 other matches are currently ongoing at the same time. In the Standby Room, on the first floor lobby, or at a pub on the street, you could watch all the games live. Focused on Sinon and Stinger was an audience who should be feeling very bored right now. After all, from the start of the match until now, both sides had not fired a single bullet.